Podcast

Monday, February 15, 2021

Believe Care Invest: The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel Grace Lancaster is dying of cancer and lugs an oxygen tank around. At cancer support group she meets a gorgeous boy named Augustus who is instantly smitten with her and invites her over to his house.

Why Hazel might be hard to identify with: She’s improbably profound. She’s so tragic that she’s sort of the parody of the YA genre. The ease with which this gorgeous boy falls for her is a little dubious.

Believe:
  • She’s got a signature object that externalizes her internal weakness: The oxygen tank.
  • She’s got other physical manifestations of her illness like chubby cheeks from the treatment.
  • Every cancer in the group has different specifics.
  • She’s got personal preferences, like the book she’s obsessed with, which we get long quotes from.
Care
  • She’s dying of cancer!
  • She’s self-conscious about all of her physical flaws when she realizes this boy is checking her out.
Invest
  • There’s clearly something about her that Augustus can see.
  • She’s charmingly witty.
  • She’s a profound thinker. We admire this even though we don’t quite buy it.
  • Though she hates the term, she’s a fighter: She insists on taking the stairs with her tank because taking the elevator is a sign you’re dying.
Strength / Flaw: Honest about herself / Depressed about her prospects, for both life and love.

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